Finally got myself a full-sized Alexander the Great portrait coin!

IT'S HARD TO THINK of a more iconic figure from ancient history than Alexander the Great, or a more consequential one. He succeeded his father Philip II as king of Macedon at the age of 20, and in a mere dozen years had pretty much conquered the known world. Alexander became a legend in his own lifetime and his story has fascinated audiences all the way down to the year 2023, and will probably do so for thousands of years to come.



Unfortunately Alexander was a much better general than he was a king - and his empire crumbled immediately upon his untimely death in Babylon in 323 B.C. However, his influence in shaping world history was both profound and enduring.

Of course lots of soldiers require lots of coins and Alexander’s coinage was minted on a scale never before seen. Mints sprang up all over the newly conquered territories, striking bright silver drachms and tetradrachms in order to pay the troops. Most of these bore the image of Herakles wearing the Nemean lionskin on the obverse, and the seated figure of Zeus on the reverse.



ex Nomos - https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3854231

There is a school of thought that argues that the image of Herakles on the obverse actually portrays the features of Alexander as Herakles; Harlan J Berk makes the case in his book 100 Greatest Ancient Coins. I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. I’m not fully convinced.

In any case, shortly after Alexander’s death his former general and bodyguard, a man named Lysimachos, took control of the regions of Thrace, Asia Minor, and Macedon and began to strike coins, not bearing his own portrait but rather, unequivocally that of the now-deified Alexander the Great.

These coins are beautifully struck in very high relief, and exhibit some of the finest portrait artistry to come out of the Hellenistic era. I’m continually amazed at the quality, not only of the engraving, but also of the flan preparation and striking - despite the large quantities minted, and the high relief, there seem to be very few poor, soft, or off-center strikes.

All in all the Lysimachos tetradrachm featuring Alexander is one of the most iconic ancient coins, right up there with the Athena/Owl tetradrachm or the coins of Julius Caesar. It’s one of those coins that every collector at least should have in his/her collection. Unfortunately this demand means that the prices can be high, easily $1K for a nice example.

So it is with a combination of delight and awe that I show off my own specimen! Purchased earlier this year. Didn’t cost $1K but -gulp- was a little too close for comfort - anyway we won’t think about that. It’s not FDC by any means, but still very nice, with a particularly pleasing obverse. I’m just thrilled to be able to own one, wasn’t sure if I ever would!





Now when I started researching for attribution I ran into a little bit of a puzzle. I knew it was a somewhat rare type; searches on ACSearch.com brought up only 5 examples sold. Of these, 3 claimed to be struck from the same dies as “Stockholm 845”. However there is a clear conflict among them. Upon close examination, I was convinced that my coin was struck with the same dies as these two auction listings, both claiming to be struck from the same dies as Stockholm 845:



ex CNG - https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8487849



ex Roma - https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2544066



The third listing claiming to be struck from the same dies as Stockholm 845 was this coin, sold through CNG:



ex CNG - https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6069193

BUT as you can see from the position of the cornucopia and the lettering, this reverse die, at least, is clearly not the same die as the other two above.



To make things even more confusing, I then found that one of the other 2 ACSearch coins which did not claim to be of the same 845 dies - ex-CNG - was later sold through a VCoins store, and was listed there as being struck from the same dies as Stockholm 845. However the reverse-die, at least, was clearly different from the other ACSearch listings making the claim:



ex VCoins - Lysimachos AR Tetradrachm, About Extremely Fine, RARE, Lovely Style! 297 - 281 B.C.E. (vcoins.com)

In my own attribution I went with the weight of the 2 auction houses versus the VCoins coin, but I’d love if someone with access to Stockholm could confirm which coin(s) share the plate coin’s dies and which do not!

In any event, it does appear to be a rather rare variety, and though that was not at all the reason I made the purchase, it’s a nice little extra. Besides the 5 on ACSearch and my own coin I could not find any other examples online.

Please post up your own Alexander portrait coins, coins you never thought you’d get to own, or any other comments!

Examples:

“SAME DIES” Ex CNG, auction 118, lot 115, 9/13/2021 ( https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8487849 ) - same as CNG auction 93, lot 121, 5/22/2013 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4832874)

“SAME DIES” Ex CNG, auction 446, lot 19, 6/19/2019 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6069193)

Ex Savoca, 26th Silver auction, lot 99, 10/14/2018 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5355826) - tough to see; clearly not same dies as other claimants.

“SAME DIES” Ex Roma, E-Sale 18, lot 235, 6/27/2015 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2544066)

Ex CNG, auction 225, lot 24, 1/13/2010 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=728954) - same as Zuzim, Vcoins (SOLD) (Lysimachos AR Tetradrachm, About Extremely Fine, RARE, Lovely Style! 297 - 281 B.C.E. (vcoins.com))

 

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That's a very nice, well centered example of a very desirable coin! There certainly seems to be die matches for your coin and the other two, with the third from similar but a different reverse die. Congrats!

As for the argument over whether or not the portrait on the obverse of Alexander III's coinage is actually the old boy, that is something that I think will be debated for a very long time. Unlike the Roman imperatorial coinage, where there is usually plenty of examples of emperors and empresses in the form of statuary and busts, in the case of Alexander III there is much less to go by, aside from some busts and that famous fresco showing him charging in the Battle of Gaugamela against Darius III.

I guess the best assumption to take is that the portrait on the obverse is an artistic interpretation of Alexander III wearing the lion headdress of Hercules. This motif, by the way, was established before Alexander's time, in Sicily, at Kamarina.

Sicily, Kamarina, tetradrachm, 425-405 BC.


I'm really not well versed on the coinage of Alexander III and his successors. This vast coinage is a specialty in itself.

Here's my lone Lysimachos tetradrachm, purchased back in the early 90s at a local coin shop.

Kings of Thrace, Lysimachos (306-281 BC)
Amphipolis Mint, circa 288-281 BC
Tetradrachm
Obverse: Head of the deified Alexander the Great facing right, wearing the horn of Ammon.
Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ – ΛΥΣΙΜΑXΟΥ, Athena enthroned left, holding Nike, shield decorated with Medusa’s head resting against base of throne, spear resting behind; torch to inner left, bee to outer right.
(Thompson 187; Müller 445a).
Cleaned VF
16.9 grams

 

I still haven't filled my Alexander III slot, and was unaware until now that there were "possible" portrait coins of him aside from the lionskin headdress. Always nice to know when there are other options, now I can keep an eye out for them

 

Lysimachos also struck smaller drachms with the same Alexander portrait/Athena design as the tetradrachm. They're a little bit less common than the big silver coins, but somewhat more affordable. I used to have one, sold it to help pay for the upgrade.

 

Congratulations on the great addition! A Lysimachos Tetradrachm is a nice classic to have in any collection. Unfortunately, for the Tetradrachm, I just have a "placeholder" right now (very corroded, albeit of fine style dies):


Drachm is better -- but a bit off-center!



My Alexander III - Herakles set is a bit better. I've got others, but I guess these two are my favorite tetradrachm & drachm for that type:

 

Alexander's Ragtime Band

 

Strike up the band!

 

Congrats & a wonderful piece of research & writeup. A tetradrachm by Lysimachous was perhaps the 1st major coin that I bought upon finishing college many years ago. Unfortunately i sold it around 1992 when i temporarily switched from Ancients to US coins but have since recovered.

You have a nice piece there. Yes they are getting expensive these days.

Recently (~2020) I bought an Alexander tetradrachm, struck in the Persian co? - capital of Susa, lifetime issue. I do presentations to high school students and an Alexander is must own coin.

Currently in London, in fact I was at the British Museum today. When I return back to the US, I'll photo mine & post it here.